


Patience

by pickledbrows



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Kissing, M/M, One Shot, Romance, Sweet, on a date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-28 22:10:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17191226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickledbrows/pseuds/pickledbrows
Summary: Tamaki and Iori have waited a long time to go on a date, and when you're an idol boy dating another idol boy, you have to do a lot of waiting for the simplest things. But Tamaki can wait.One-shot fic of TamaIo on a date.





	Patience

**Author's Note:**

> After 10 months in this fandom, I finally have a fic. I wrote and edited this in 6 hours, so expect awkward grammar and mistakes. Oops.
> 
> The boys should be around 19 or something at this point. Maybe. No spoilers for the games. I think?
> 
> I wrote this for myself because I've been thinking about TamaIo a lot.

* * *

Maybe it was because they were beside the water, but Tamaki thought it was a little colder here in Yokohama than it was back at the dorm. He shoved his hands deeper into his pocket and shifted from one foot to the other to try and generate some heat. At least the mask on his face helped keep it warm, though it was a bit stifling. He watched as a crowd of people passed through the gates of the train station and stood on tiptoe, as if he couldn’t already see over the heads of everyone around him.

“Iorin!” he called and waved when he spotted a familiar head of dark blue hair.

Iori visibly jumped, pulled his mask higher over his nose, and beelined toward him with his head down. He was moving so fast that Tamaki took a step back, expecting to be tackled. Except Iori would’ve never done that. Instead, he grabbed Tamaki’s arm and headed quickly toward the exit stairs of the underground station.

“Um, the other side is better--” Tamaki mumbled.

“What did I say about calling out in public? No nicknames! Do you want to get stuck here with a group of fans?” Iori hissed as he sharply turned and led them to the other staircase.

“You always say it’s good to give the fans attention,” Tamaki replied, easily keeping step with Iori’s rushed movements.

“At a concert, not here!” Iori said, a little louder but still a whisper. A whisper-shout.

Tamaki was pushed to go first up the stairs and he noticed that Iori was still holding onto him, though his hand was now gripping loosely at the cuff of his sleeve. He attempted to slide their hands together but Iori flinched and completely let go.

“Not here!”

Tamaki sighed and made his way up the rest of the stairs and onto the sidewalk. It was a lot more crowded out here, and he wondered if he could use the excuse of not wanting to be separated to hold Iori’s hand.

“Hey, Iorin--”

He felt a hand on his back, pushing him onwards and he went in the direction Iori was directing him.

“What did I just say? Come on, this way, there’s too many people here,” Iori said.

When the crowd lessened, Iori stopped pushing and moved to walk in tandem. Tamaki glanced over at him and smiled when he realized he could see Iori’s hair whorl more clearly than usual.

“I grew again!” he cheered.

Iori nudged him with an elbow. “You did not. You’re wearing those fancy shoes again and it gives you more height.”

Tamaki looked down at his fancy shoes and hummed. “But you’re wearing them, too.”

Iori nudged him again and didn’t reply, meaning that Tamaki had won the fight and he didn’t want to admit it. In the last couple of years since their debut, they’d both continued to gain a little more height, but Tamaki had already been far ahead in that department. Iori was now as tall as Yamato, if not a little taller, and it seemed Tamaki just kept on going.

“Hopefully you’ll stop growing. You’re like a pole instead of another group member,” Iori said.

Tamaki laughed at that and nudged him, maybe a little too hard because Iori ended up taking a step to the side regain his balance. He shot Tamaki a dirty look, which was cute since the only things Tamaki could see were his narrowed eyes. He wanted badly to reach up and ruffle Iori’s hair, but he shoved his hands deeper into his pockets to hold back.

They stopped at a crosswalk, their first destination of the day in sight. They’d been planning this outing for several weeks, canceling it multiple times due to landing new solo jobs or having to attend live performances that had been sprung on them last minute. Iori wanted them to spend the whole day together, not just a quick meal at the family restaurant down the street. Apparently, that wasn’t a real date. Neither was sharing a meal in the dorm, even if it was only the both of them, or picking up groceries. Or running to the convenience store for a late-night snack. Or riding the train together on the way to rehearsal.

Tamaki had definitely learned a lot this year about how to date someone and what a proper date was and what was proper to do on a public date when your boyfriend was also an idol. This would be their second official date this year. The first one was earlier on in the year, a month after the clumsy confession Tamaki made on his birthday about wanting Iori to date him as a present. Not in front of everyone else, of course, that would’ve been a little weird.

He expected Iori to hit or yell--which was why he didn’t want to ask in front of the rest of the group--but Iori ended up mumbling in a shaky voice and with pink cheeks that he _thought_ they’d already been dating, because Tamaki had kissed him on _his_ birthday in January. And what about the foot nudges under the table, even when everyone else was around? Or the fact that they had sleepovers in each other’s rooms and Tamaki always wrapped his arms around him when they slept? And apparently they’d gone on a date sometime during February, but Iori nixed that as their first official date because they weren’t even dating yet.

“Hey, we’re crossing,” present-Iori said, and elbowed Tamaki out of his thoughts, “Were you even listening to what I was saying?”

He grabbed Tamaki’s sleeve again and tugged him across the street. Tamaki stumbled but easily fell into step alongside him.

“What did you say?” Tamaki bluntly asked, to which Iori groaned.

“I asked if you had made the reservation,” Iori repeated, turning narrowed eyes filled with suspicion up at him.

Cute.

“I did!” Tamaki exclaimed and in a quieter voice mumbled, “I think.”

Another groan. Iori let go of his sleeve and they made their way to the famous red brick buildings of Yokohama. Tamaki had been here two months ago for his newest food tour show with Sougo, and when he mentioned wanting to take Iori there someday, he’d been left with the responsibility of planning lunch.Which eventually led up to this long-awaited date.

“Sou-chan helped me,” he said proudly and Iori rolled his eyes.

“He’s still helping you make phone calls at your age?”

“I made the phone call and reserved it on my own!” Tamaki insisted, “Sou-chan was there for support.”

In actuality, Sougo had been rushing him out of the dressing room and begging him to finish the call. Tamaki had been staring at the restaurant phone number the entire time he was getting his hair and makeup done, mentally preparing himself to reserve a table for the first time, and when he finally dialed the number it just happened to be five minutes before they needed to be on stage. He wasn’t going to tell Iori these details, and he’d already apologized for giving Sougo his weekly heart attack.

“We’ll see,” Iori said and made his way inside.

It was crowded and Tamaki looked around for a sign or directory that would lead him to the restaurant he was certain he’d called for a reservation. He hadn’t been before but people online said it was good, and he wanted to take Iori somewhere good.

“Oh, it’s this way,” he said and before he could reach for Iori’s hand, he felt the familiar tug on his sleeve.

He led them past the cafes and pointed out the one he’d tried delicious pastries at for the food show. He’d wanted to bring some home for the dorm but he and Sougo had been in a rush for rehearsal on the other side of the city.

The restaurant was by itself at the end of the long, narrow hallway. Yes, he actually had made a reservation and yes, they even had a booth that was a little more private. It was hard to eat with a mask on, after all.

“See! I did it!” Tamaki cheered once they were seated.

“Good job,” Iori said and glanced around before peeling his mask off. His cheeks were a little flushed, probably from the cold. Tamaki nudged at his foot under the table and laughed when the pink turned a shade darker. Iori nudged back and left his feet resting between Tamaki’s.

They shared several plates of food, Tamaki’s appetite strong as ever, and for dessert they mulled over whether they wanted to get something here or at the cafe Tamaki had mentioned earlier.

“We can try the pavlova here and then get something for everyone at the other place,” Iori suggested, eyes wide as he continued to stare at the dessert pictures.

“Iorin, so smart,” Tamaki teased in a monotone voice. Iori huffed and brushed their ankles together underneath the table.

He settled his fingers over Tamaki’s and quickly retracted as their waiter came back to take their dessert order.

Tamaki would never get tired of the way Iori’s eyes lit up after tasting something sweet and delicious. He managed to snap a picture and accepted the gentle kick for doing so. When they were done, full to bursting, and everything was paid for, they headed over to the cafe to pick up something for everyone at the dorm.

“I hate wearing this thing,” Tamaki whined as he tugged his mask back on around his ears.

“We have to. Maybe you should also wear a hat,” Iori said as he pulled on his own mask, “Your hair stands out.”

“You’re saying that now?” Tamaki grumbled and pulled his hoodie over his head. He didn’t have a hat today.

The line at the little bakery was long, which made the hallway even more crowded since there were other shops and cafes inside. Tamaki pointed at a sign near the entrance that promoted his and Sougo’s previous visit and Iori smacked his hand down, mumbling that he was being way too obvious.

As they stood in line to order the sweets that Mezzo” had apparently made famous overnight, Tamaki couldn’t help but smile to himself when Iori pressed a little closer to his side. He shoved his hand even deeper into his pocket and went over their latest choreography in his head to distract himself.

When they got their box of fresh pastries, they exited the building that had become rather warm due to the growing number of visitors in the cramped space. It was also crowded outside due to food stands and small outdoor shops, so Tamaki led them a bit further away before pulling out his phone.

“Let's take a picture!” he said and pulled Iori close.

Iori protested since they were very much outside and it was very much still daytime, but he managed to not narrow his eyes at the camera and let Tamaki have his selfie.

It was perfect with the brick buildings in the background, and Tamaki reminded himself not to immediately post it right at that moment on social media. That was another rule, though not just for dates. They weren’t supposed to post selfies of where they were currently at if in a public area. Their manager had drilled that one into his head several times in the past after a few mishaps with fans.

“I want to ride that,” Tamaki said and pointed to the ferris wheel in the near distance.

“It’s better at night,” Iori said, as if he’d been on it before, “We can walk around before then. Isn’t that Cosmoworld? There should be places we can walk.”

He hadn’t directly turned down the idea, which was a good sign. Tamaki could be patient.

They headed in the direction of the amusement area, shoulders brushing every few steps and their footsteps in sync.

“Oh there’s an arcade center there! We can do purikura! And I can finally conquer a UFO catcher!” Tamaki said excitedly.

“Stop wasting your money,” Iori chided, “Those are rigged.”

“It’s a game, you’re supposed to waste money! And when the toy finally drops after the struggle, you feel like you’re a millionaire!”

When they got to the small arcade in Cosmoworld, Tamaki gushed at the single King Pudding plush crane game. Iori warned him not to spend too much on it, but Tamaki waved him off.

“He’s worth billions!” was his argument as he slipped in a few coins. Iori stood close, leaning against him, but he didn’t mind.. He could concentrate under any pressure if King Pudding was involved.

He had experience with winning things from past crane games, and after several attempts he managed to move the toy into a good position to free it. He was quickly running out of coins though. He felt Iori move away and rummaged around in his bag before pulling out his coin pouch.

“Only one at a time,” he said and slid a single 100-yen coin in, the machine ringing in response and the lights flashing to say it was ready for another round.

Now, Tamaki felt the pressure. He really needed to win if Iori was pitching in.

It took several more attempts, and Iori had to shush him at one point because he was starting to curse, but the coins kept coming. When the toy finally dropped, Tamaki yelled so loud Iori jumped on him and slapped his hand, with the coin pouch, over his masked face. He hit Tamaki in the eye, resulting in a different kind of shout, followed by a string of apologies. A staff member came over to check on them to see if they were okay, and thankfully there weren’t that many people inside the arcade who cared that two almost-adult men had caused such a commotion over a King Pudding toy.

“He’s mine!” Tamaki cheered when he retrieved his prize. He shoved the toy at Iori’s chest with a simple, “Here.”

Iori glanced down at the soft toy--it squeaked!--eyes wide in surprise. Tamaki saw the moment when it clicked in Iori’s head that he’d been given a gift, and the gift was a special cat-version of King Pudding with whiskers and ears.

“Don’t you like King Pudding?” Iori asked in that shaky voice.

Tamaki shrugged. “Obviously. But you like cats.”

Before Iori could protest, he motioned him to a different corner of the arcade where the purikura booths were.

“We can use these, no signs that say we can’t,” he said and pushed Iori into an empty one.

On their first date, they’d been prohibited from using the purikura booths since they were both boys. Apparently some places in the city still did that, though Tamaki didn’t understand why. Iori had pulled him away before he could argue with the staff in charge.

“We can take a picture with King Cat!” he said and took off his mask after closing the curtain.

“King Cat…?” Iori repeated, staring down at the toy.

“Yeah, he’s a king. And a cat.”

They put their things down on the shelves, except King Cat of course, and Tamaki fiddled with the photo booth’s screen options. They’d done this before with the rest of the group, and he was excited to finally do this with only Iori. He’d done this with school friends in the past, but apparently Iori had no experience outside of the group. Tamaki found himself maneuvering him into the different positions that were mirrored on the screen, laughing lightly at how stiff Iori was. For the last picture, he ignored the suggested pose and kissed Iori on the cheek. He couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Yotsuba-san!” Iori screeched and covered his face with his hands, as if to shield himself from further affection.

“No one is going to see, just us!” Tamaki reassured him as they put their masks back on and gathered their things before exiting to the decorating side of the booth.

He figured Iori would get mad at him and felt a little guilty for being too pushy, but Iori only mumbled something under his breath. His head was bowed and he was hugging both the box of pastries and King Cat.

“Hm? Did you say something?” Tamaki asked, half listening as he tapped the touch screen with the stylus.

“I wanted to post it online later,” Iori whispered.

Tamaki ached to kiss him then and there, on the mouth this time, even if it would only be for a second. His face grew warm and he paused with the photo decorating.

“Just crop it,” he answered and Iori leaned against him. There was a half-curtain shielding them that could hide that much.

Tamaki did all of the editing since Iori didn’t want to mess anything up. He made sure to add all the cute cat stuff Iori pointed out and anything else that his boyfriend deemed was good enough to put on their faces or heads.

They forwarded the photos to their phones and Iori was quick to gather the printed pictures as soon as they came out, shoving both into his wallet and promising to give Tamaki his copy when they were home. In the meantime, Tamaki downloaded the picture once he received the text link and grinned, showing Iori the kiss. He could see the flush deepening on the other’s face, but that was the only reaction. Another good sign.

There were other games in the arcade, but none that interested either of them. After all, they’d already spent quite a bit of money on the crane game. When they made their way out, Tamaki welcomed the cool, fresh air. It was a lot hotter inside than he thought.

“There are other rides here,” he mused out loud, though he doubted Iori had any interest. They’d passed the rollercoaster earlier, but neither of them suggested riding it. Simply seeing the loops and drop had Tamaki’s heart jumping. He didn’t even want to think about it.

“We can just walk,” Iori said and for a brief second, Tamaki felt the brush of warm fingers against his own.

Cosmoworld was mostly rides meant for children, but they walked around anyway just to have a look since neither of them had been here before. Iori shuffled into the gift shop, saying that they should consider buying everyone a small trinket.

“You bought the sweets so I’ll pay,” Iori offered.

Tamaki helped him pick the souvenirs and then Iori shooed him away to go outside and wait while he paid. On the way out, Tamaki spotted a Cosmoworld-themed King Pudding gacha machine at the entrance. He remembered he didn’t have anymore coins and rushed over to Iori to borrow some change. Iori was where he’d left him, holding onto a keychain still hanging on the hook, but when he noticed Tamaki coming over, he released it and rushed off to the checkout counter.

“Go wait outside,” Iori told him again.

Tamaki waited until Iori was distracted by the shop clerk and grabbed the keychain before hopping into line. They hadn’t gotten any souvenirs for themselves, and if Iori wanted this, the least he could do was get it for him.

“I’m getting something for Aya,” he explained when Iori gawked at him. He mentally apologized to Aya for using her in a lie to sneakily buy his boyfriend a gift.

After his purchase, he had coins again and got a King Pudding gacha before meeting with Iori outside the gift shop. Maybe he’d give the gacha toy to Aya. He dropped the capsule into his shopping bag and extracted the keychain he’d just bought. At the same time, Iori reached into his own bag and pulled out the exact same one, holding it out for Tamaki to take.

“Oh.”

“Ah.”

Tamaki laughed. “You kept staring at it so I thought you wanted it.”

Iori quickly exchanged keychains with him. “I was going to buy one for both of us but matching is…”

Tamaki retrieved his keys from his pocket and clipped on the keychain. “Now we’re matching!”

Iori lowered his head and dropped the keychain into his shopping bag with everyone else’s souvenirs. Tamaki shoved his keys and hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t ruffle Iori’s hair. Or try to take his hand. Or something else he wasn’t supposed to do in public.

“The sun is setting,” he murmured instead and repeated it when Iori looked up at him in confusion. Tamaki motioned over at the ferris wheel that had been making its rounds all throughout the day. “Can we ride now?”

Iori nodded without hesitation. A sign that he was also losing patience. A good sign.

The line was a little long, as expected, and they barely talked to one another. Iori was answering a text that their manager had sent, something about dinner with everyone, and Tamaki scrolled through his various social media apps and stopped on a short video uploaded by Ryuu.

“New choreography from Ryuu-ani--ah, Ryuu-san, Tsunashi-sama!” he stuttered over his own corrections, remembering that he couldn’t use nicknames in public. Iori nudged him, his only warning, and leaned closer to watch the screen.

“Tsunashi-san is truly amazing,” he said, clearly impressed.

“I’m getting better, too,” Tamaki couldn’t help but comment, wanting praise. Iori elbowed him again, this time softer, and he didn’t move his arm away.

“You are,” he said matter-of-fact.

Tamaki felt his stomach grow warm where Iori was touching him and he dared to lean just a tad more into the slight pressure. Iori allowed it for a few seconds, then pulled away and didn’t make any contact for the rest of their wait in the line. Not even eye contact. _Especially_ not eye contact.

When it was their turn to ride, Tamaki practically threw himself into the large car and set his things on the row of seats across from him. Iori sat down beside them.

“Sit next to me!” Tamaki whined and Iori shushed him before glancing over to see if the operation staff had heard.

The door of their car slid shut and they slowly made their way upwards, stopping now and then as the ferris wheel took on more passengers. Tamaki noticed that Iori continued to glance out the window and decided not to say anymore. He slumped in his seat and looked out in the opposite direction, waiting.

When they finally began to move at a steady pace, Iori got up and slid into the seat beside him. He glanced out the window at their backs and Tamaki finally realized what he was doing.

“They’re not going to see us,” he said and reached up to remove his face mask. He reached up to remove Iori’s also but Iori quickly pulled it off on his own before taking hold of Tamaki’s hand.

“I’m just making sure,” Iori said quietly, as if the people behind him would hear.

Maybe it was because Iori was practically glued to his side, but Tamaki thought it was a lot hotter in the car now. He squeezed the hand laced with his and leaned down to nuzzle his nose against Iori’s cheek. Without hesitation, Iori turned his head and met his lips in a long-awaited, warm kiss.

They’d kissed hundreds of times before and this one was cleaner and sweeter than most times, but the loss of patience and building desperation to touch throughout the day must’ve fed the satisfaction. Tamaki sighed against Iori’s mouth and leaned forward, his free hand wrapping around the other’s shoulders to hold him closer. Iori squeezed his hand when Tamaki hesitantly brushed his tongue against his lips and slowly turned away, breaking the contact.

“Please?” Tamaki whispered and Iori turned his head the other way before allowing Tamaki to kiss him again. Deeper this time, less clean, less sweet.

Tamaki wasn’t sure how long it took for them to pass the halfway mark, but it was definitely too soon when Iori pulled away as they began their descent.

“I wish we had an hour in here,” Tamaki grumbled, squeezing Iori’s fingers.

“Pervert,” Iori snorted into his neck.

When they were in the last quarter of the rotation, Iori pulled away completely, slipped his mask back on, and was on the other side of the car. Tamaki put his mask on as well, feeling a little frustrated at the shortness of the ride. On the bright side, Iori had cuddled with him in a semi-public place, so that was a win. They gathered their things and exited, quietly falling back into step with one another as they made their way out of Cosmoworld and onto the outer street.

“Let’s go home. Manager said she’s having dinner with us at the dorm,” Iori said and motioned at the box of pastries Tamaki was holding, “Good thing we bought extra. We can give her some, too.”

“I want to stop and get something,” Tamaki said, pointing at a convenience store across the street. Iori grabbed his arm and continued to tug him in the direction of the train station.

“No, wait for dinner! You always do this and end up eating a whole meal!” Iori protested.

“I can eat two whole meals and it won’t be enough!”

“I know that!”

Tamaki groaned as he was denied his pre-dinner snack. He followed Iori down the stairs leading to the underground station and noticed that he was still holding onto his sleeve.

“Iorin, it’s a little awkward to walk like this,” he said and shook his arm.

Iori released him and walked a bit faster down the stairs. He didn’t check to see whether Tamaki was even following him through the ticket gate, not that it was hard to keep up, and Tamaki immediately felt the rush of guilt. He’d killed the good mood between them by using a nickname in public _and_ shaking off his boyfriend’s hand. He trailed after Iori until they reached the end of the platform where there were the least amount of people, and after some thought, he leaned down and quietly whispered, “Sorry.”

There was no response, but Iori furthered lowered his head until his mask-covered nose touched the top of the King Pudding plush’s head. His sweeping bangs covered whatever visible part of his face was left. Tamaki sighed in relief, glad that Iori wasn’t upset with him and that the ride home wasn’t too long. He only had so much patience left in the day.


End file.
